Fat
by bookwormgirlLH
Summary: A simple joke leaves Jim completely distraught, but can the others get their happy, healthy friend back before it's too late... Whump. Possible trigger warnings: depression and eating disorders. Please R&R!


Jim had always been a bit chubby. He knew it and accepted it - although he did think it was slightly unfair that he was podgy when he didn't eat much more than anyone else - and even though he was ill with hypothyroidism, which was what was making him chubby, he was happy in himself. He had five brilliant friends who he got to work with everyday, a loving, beautiful wife, and the best job in the world - making a fool of himself for children's TV.

But one day, whilst filming Horrible Histories on location, everything changed - and he began to hate his size.

It all began with a seemingly light-hearted joke - but soon became much more serious...

* * *

Jim woke up to complete darkness, but as he could hear the crew moving about outside his trailer, he knew that it must have been light outside - which left a terrifying thought in his heart, "Crap, I'm blind!" he screamed, stumbling out of bed, groping blindly with his hands, before crashing into the bathroom door and falling heavily onto his bottom.

Trying to calm down, and ignore the throbbing pain in his bruised backside, Jim cautiously lifted his hands and was surprised to find his eyelids stuck together with what felt like gritty glue. After a few minutes spent gently prizing his eyelids apart, Jim could finally see again - but his eyes felt horribly gritty and were watering uncontrollably.

Despite his nerves, he thought rationally: his eyes felt really itchy last night, and now they were full of gunk - he must have conjunctivitis. "Brilliant," he muttered sarcastically, but realistically, it wouldn't stop the filming, it would just mean that they couldn't film any of his scenes for a few days.

Jim jerked out of his deep thoughts as he caught sight of the clock - he was supposed to be up ten minutes ago! (although his oversleeping was nothing new -his hypothyroidism meant hat he always felt tired)- and hurriedly got ready, before rushing out of the door.

* * *

Jim strolled as casually as he could into the canteen trailer, where the cast, extras and crew were all eating breakfast. He headed over to his usual table, where he and the other five always sat, and was first noticed by Martha, who jumped to her feet.

"Jim!" She cried, "Your eyes!" She knew something was wrong with Jim's very red and watery eyes, but couldn't remember the name of the condition.

Larry was the next to look, and got up, staring intently at Jim's eyes, making him feel embarrassed. "Looks like you've got conjunctivitis, Jim." Larry said softly, patting the shorter man's shoulder. "I've had it before, it's really crappy, isn't it?"

Jim chuckled slightly, before being hit by comments from the other three.

"Are you alright, Jim." Mat asked, looking concerned.

"You poor thing!" Ben said sympathetically.

"You must be feeling rotten - you haven't eaten anything yet!" Simon joked, a smile on his face.

The others all giggled a bit, but Jim was struggling to hide how hurt he felt. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, acting like he was trying to not be angry with Simon.

"All I meant was that you always eat a lot as soon as you see the food." Simon replied, "I mean, its pretty obvious you love your food, isn't it, look at that tummy." He joked, leaning across the table and patting Jim's stomach.

Jim couldn't believe how much Simon was hurting him - and why were the others laughing, they were meant to be his friends? He was used to jokes being made on set - but they were just part of a sketch, and weren't his friends thoughts, for they were just reading the script. But now, he felt so insulted, he couldn't believe that they didn't know that they were upsetting him.

Jim took a step back so Simon could no longer touch him, wrapping his arms protectively around his stomach, but kept a forced smile on his face, letting his friends believe that he was playing along with them.

"Don't be embarrassed, Jim." Mat said, moving Jim's hands so that the front of his shirt was on show again. He clapped his hand against Jim's abdomen, "We love your fat little tummy." Mat joked, smiling at Jim, his grin showing that he genuinely thought that he short friend was happy with him joking about.

The loud wave of laughter that followed the comment shook Jim, his mind wiring - Mat was his best friend, how could he say that? Jim shuddered, the outraged sadness flooding through him bubbling dangerously close to the surface. He slapped Mat's hand away, shoving the tall, thin man hard in the chest.

"What was that for?" Mat asked, shocked, as he stumbled backwards into Martha.

Jim lost it, "What do you mean 'what was that for?'!" He shouted, shocking his friends, and everyone else in the room to silence, "You treat me like this when I'm ill, you take the piss out of my size, you tease me about something I've always been self conscious about, and don't even realise you're upsetting me - and you don't know why I shoved you!" He burst into tears, feeling the burning sensation in his sore eyes slightly calm down but not caring about his conjunctivitis any more, and ran from the canteen.

"Jim, we were only joking!" Martha called, trying to run after him, but Ben held her back.

"I think we should leave him be for a bit - he needs to calm down." Ben said, but he, too, looked distressed.

"We didn't mean it though, and he's so upset." She whispered, her own tears spilling over.

"Why did he have to take me seriously?" Simon pondered, and Mat was still in a daze after being yelled at by his usually calm, happy friend.

"He'll be okay, Martha, and when he comes back, we can tell him were sorry." Larry said softly, letting Martha rest her head on his chest, rubbing her back soothingly.

* * *

Jim hurtled back through the camp, tears pouring down his cheeks, head bowed to avoid eye contact with anyone, before slamming into his trailer. Jumping onto the bed, Jim buried his head in his pillow, hearing the cruel words his 'friends' had spoken just five minutes ago.

"It's not fair - why did they have t say 'fat'?" He sobbed, before gasping, "Oh, God, am I really fat?"

He stumbled across the room, rubbing his tear filled, gritty eyes, and opened the door of his tiny bathroom, before staring at his reflection. A hideously bloated, fat face stared back at him and Jim, still sobbing, suddenly jumped as a voice yelled, "FAT!" A tug of agony at his heart told him that it was Mat's voice, and he trembled, sitting down on the closed toilet seat as his knees buckled.

Jim's stomach growled loudly, the rumble of hunger vibrating through his abdomen and chest.

He punched his stomach furiously, "Shut up!" He snapped "You're not getting any food, so stop moaning." He looked back up at his reflection, seeing the obese man he hadn't seen before today look back at him.

He was going to get thin - he had to - to show his friends that he wasn't just their stupid fat friend. He wasn't going to be fat for much longer...


End file.
